The Doomsday Machine

Notes

In 2267 the Enterprise was on a routine mission when it recieved a distress call. The call was badly garbled, with only the word "Constellation" coming through clearly. Only able to locate the origin to within one sector, the Enterprise set out to locate the ship in distress.

In searching the sector, the Enterprise discovered that almost every planetary system had been blasted into rubble, a level of destruction which indicated a star gone nova - yet the stars were intact and unchanged. In the L374 system they discovered the two inner planets remained intact, and proceeded in for a closer investigation. The Enterprise discovered the USS Constellation, NCC 1017, hanging badly damaged in space. No crew was aboard, the ships main power systems were dead and its reserves operating at low power only, as was life support. The bridge was damaged and uninhabitable, but the alternate control room was still functional.

An Enterprise away team led by Captain Kirk discovered Commodore Decker still on board the ship. He was deep in shock, but was able to tell them that his ship had been investigating the dissapearence of several planets in the L374 system when it had come across an alien device which was destroying the fourth planet in the system. They attacked the device, but it quickly overpowered the Constellation and inflicted heavy damage upon it. Decker ordered the ship abandoned and beamed his crew down to the third planet, remaining behind himself. The planet killer attacked again, damaging the ships transporters, then proceeded to destroy the third planet with the crew still on it.

Analysis of the Constellation's records showed that the alien device was a robotic weapon designed to break apart planets and ingest their material for use as fuel in a total conversion drive. It used a force beam composed of pure anti protons as a weapon and its solid neutronium hull made it virtually invulnerable to any conventional attak. It also produced a general energy dampening field capable of neutralising antimatter, reducing sensor efficiency and making communications impossible anywhere near the device. Analysis of the devices course indicated that it originated outside our own galaxy, and that it was on a course which would soon take it into one of the most heavily populated regions. Kirk theorised that the device had been built as an ultimate weapon, so powerful that it could destroy both sides in a war and so would act as a deterrent to any war in the first place.

While Kirk and Engineer Scott attempted some repairs on the Constellation, Commodore Decker and Doctor McCoy beamed to the Enterprise. As they arrived the doomsday device approached and attacked the Enterprise, damaging the transporter system and disrupting communications before setting course for the Rigel colony. Commodore Decker assumed command of the Enterprise and attacked the device with full phasers at point blank range, failing to do any damage. The device fired on the Enterprise, destroying their deflector shields, then used a tractor beam to pull the ship inside to its destruction.

Fortunately, Engineer Scott managed to restore some engine and weapon power to the Constellation. The ship fired on the planet killer, distracting it and making it release the Enterprise. The two ships alternated their fire, confusing the device sufficiently that it gave up on capturing them and resumed course for Rigel.

Against regulations, Kirk ordered Commodore Decker relieved for his reckless endangerment of the Enterprise. Decker was escorted to sickbay for medical examination, but on the way he escaped his guard and stole a shuttlecraft. He piloted the craft directly into the Doomsday devices maw, hoping to inflict some damage on it from the inside. Although the attempt did not do any significant damage, it did cause a minor power drop in the device. Kirk resolved to repeat the experiment using a much larger craft - the Constellation.

Scott rigged a thirty second delay device on the Constellations impulse engines, and Kirk rammed the starship into the maw of the Doomsday device. An exlposion of 97.835 Megatons resulted, sufficient to damage or destroy the devices inner mechanisms and paralyse it.1